[Alan Murrell <alanm@vcn.bc.ca>] Asset / Liability calculations?

[Alan Murrell]

Hi There!

I'm a new subscriber, as well as a new user to gnucash.  First, let me say that this is really a good product!  I was used to using MS Money, but this is definately a good substitute!

However, something I noticed which I am not sure is a flaw in the program or not, and it has to do with the "Net Asset" calculation that appears in the lower right-hand corner of the main screen, and also in the "Asset" Report

First, I have several "main" categories set up:

100 Liabilities (my various debts) --> setup as a liability acct
200 Expenses (rent, utilities, taxes taken off paycheque, etc.) --> setup as a "Liability" acct
300 Income (bank interest, paycheque amount before taxes)
400 Assets (bank accounts)

The "Net Assets" calculation seems to go:

          Liabilties + (Expenses + Assets)

I'm not sure that "Expenses" should even enter into the equation, should they?

Oh, another thing: under the Income:Salary account, where I enter my paycheque and taxes taken off, why do the taxes get entered under the "Income" column of the transation window?  Here is what it looks like:

Transfer                     Charge              Income
Income:Salary                                    $GROSS
Chequing Account                                 $NET
Taxes:EI                                         $TAX1
Taxes:CPP                                        $TAX2
Taxes:Federal Income Tax                         $TAX3

Aren't the taxes actually "charges", and should be entered as such?  The "NET" is what is transferred over to my bank account.  Try as I might, I am unable to enter the "NET" amount first, and go from there (if I were able to do that, then the transactions would be entered properly).  *Is* there something I'm doing wrong, or is this just the way of things?

Thanx, in advance, for your help!
--   __
----/ /  _                   Alan Murrell
---/ /  (_)__  __ ____  __   Internet Support Specialist
--/ /__/ / _ \/ // /\ \/ /   alanm@vcn.bc.ca
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